Myanmar Accuses U.s. of Aiding Terr

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Subject: Myanmar Accuses U.s. of Aiding Terrorist Attacks

The Daily Yomiuri 
June 28, 1997

Myanmar Accuses U.s. of Aiding Terrorist Attacks

Yangon (AP)?Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief accused the United States
Friday of financing democracy activists he claimed were plotting to blow up
foreign embassies and government leaders in Rangoon.

In a two-hour press conference from which foreign reporters and diplomats
were barred, Gen. Khin Nyunt announced the arrests of ten democracy
activists and exposed what he called "the vile and vicious drama of
terrorism staged in the name of democracy and human rights."

He said some of the activists had plotted bombings, and others had passed
money and documents to Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the
Myanmar democracy movement.

Criticizing U.S. economic sanctions imposed on Myanmar in April because of
repression against the democracy movement, Khin Nyunt said Washington had
"transferred assistance to underground armed groups and terrorist groups."

He read out a list of congressional appropriations to labor and
pro-democracy groups who he said were planning to "commit atrocities, cause
chaos and confusion and thus bring down the government and install a puppet
government that would take orders from Western powers."

The groups included the American Refugee Committee, International Rescue
Committee, the Center for International Private Enterprise, the Asian
American Free Labor Institute, The National Coalition Government of the
Union of Burma and Dr. Cynthia's Maesot Clinic, which provides free medical
care to ethnic Karen refugees in Thailand.

Khin Nyunt said that during June his men had arrested ten people including
two members Suu Kyi's political party, and two members of the National
Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, a pro-democracy exile group
based in the United States.

The NCGUB members were caught with explosive devices and materials including
plastic explosives, fuse wires and detonators, he said.

Khin Nyunt, one of the top four members of the military government, said the
activists planned to carry out bomb attacks on the Chinese and Indonesian
embassies, and the homes of government leaders.

He displayed a rice cooker he said was used to smuggle the explosives into
the country.
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